What to do to navigate thru inflation or any financial crisis

 Many years ago, more than I'd care to admit; I was a child in the 1970's.  Being a child, I vaguely remember seeing news stories of gas lines, and alternate day fueling.  That was where you were able to purchase gas based on your license plate (if I remember correctly).  Odd plate, odd days of fueling, even plate, even days fueling.  As a child I wasn't really aware of the other things going on, like staggering inflation.  My parents, however, were.  

It was years later, I was an adult with my own kids, when, during a phone conversation, my mom told me about what it was like.  She said the price of ground beef went up seemingly overnight, as did other grocery staples.  We were just talking groceries, but inflation covered just about everything. We were a one income family.  While my dad had a good job, it spread thin over that many mouths to feed, and bodies to dress and care for.  My mom said she was nervous, very nervous.  It was during that time my parents moved up from the city to the country; building a house and taking on a payment at an interest rate of around 8%; which was good for then.  Their house payment covered the price of a construction company "Drying in" the house.  In other words it had the 4 walls and a roof.  Anything internal was up to us; well my parents.  We lived in the house while the inside was finished because our previous house had to be sold first.  Actually we lived in a camper for 5-6 weeks then we lived in the house.  The land the house was built on was paid for separately in a "by owner "sale.  My parents gardened, mom canned, we kids foraged (wild blackberries, and muscadines), mom made jellies, they raised cows and pigs, etc.  But what did they do before they moved?  How did they get by when the ends needed extra work to meet and even then it was a toss up?  

Not every one can move to the country and raise things.  It was a hard, scary time for my parents.  There were things they had to do to make things work.  Just like my parents, just like all of us, there are things that we can do to help make the ends meet, even if those ends look a little frayed.

First of all, you need to understand that regardless of any panic buying or hoarding you may do, inflation will affect you at some point.  Just accept that realization and you will feel so much better.  My job is to give you some tips on how to minimize it's effect on you: to help you navigate it.  

So here we go!

1)  If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, and are able to right now, I highly recommend refinancing to a FIXED rate mortgage.  I'm hopeful no one has adjustable rate mortgages anymore, but if you do, it's in your best interest ( no pun intended)to change.  

2)  If you have credit card debit, work to get out of it.  As interest rates fluctuate, so does your credit card interest rates.  Most interest rates are based on the Prime Rate,  If that goes up, so does your rate.  Interest rates can only be artificially held down for so long.  The bill comes due.

3)  If you have access to opening a Health Savings Account, I highly recommend it.  We've had one for a few years now and they are really nice.  The money comes out of your pay check before taxes and as long as the money is used for health expenses ( dental is included too and now over the counter meds I believe), it is never taxed.  This gives you a little more bang for your buck in that you are using pre taxed dollars.  It's like having more money.  Plus you can take it with you where ever you go.  Even if you left your job, that health savings account is yours.  It can also take off a lot of worry when you know you have something set aside for medical emergencies.  In addition to all that, it can act as an additional fund for retirement in that the money you invest in it will act like a 401k that you can withdraw from at retirement for any reason.  We've needed ours quite a bit in recent years, so ours is a stop gap at the moment.   

Okay, now that I have the Dave Ramsey stuff out of the way, here are some ways to keep your budget in check during this time.  These will not require moving to a new location or taking on the task of caring for farm animals.  You're welcome.  

*** I'll try and go more in depth on all of these in later posts

1) Rethink purchases-  Try to find more uses for the things you already have on hand.  In other words, is there something you already have on hand that can accomplish the job for which you were planning a purchase?  This might take some out of the box thinking.  This also  means making sure you actually need something before buying it.  I'm bad to buy something thinking we don't have it, only to find out we did ( sometimes more than one), all along.

    a) I created a new run for the Bantam hens using scrounged PVC from a former run that was in pieces.  I had to cut out usable pieces, but had enough to make a smaller than the original run.  I did have to purchase some of the joints, but many other joints were from where I chiseled out the glued in part and salvaged the joint so I didn't have to buy more.  Also, full disclosure, I found out I had more joints in the shed...sooo.  I still used them, but it would have saved me some chiseling.      

This is just one example I have, yours may be different.  The idea is to look for an alternative to something you think you have to( or want to) buy.  There may not be something handy, but the idea is to try.  Case in point, our alternative to an incubator was to let the hens hatch the chickens, but our hens are NUTS so we have an incubator.  This leads me to my next point:

2)  When you have to buy something, make sure it's worth the investment.  The incubator is one such example.  We gave the hens ample tries before making this decision.  With this incubator, we can sustain/grow our flock without having to buy additional chicks, and we can provide really good meat ( and broth) for the freezer.  While it won't be all the meat we would need over the year, it will be some.  Plus these roosters will have a much better and longer life than those raised in commercial farms.  This saves us money in the long run, and gives us better quality foods cheaper than store bought.  That makes this a worthy investment.  When we chose this incubator, we chose one that was well reviewed, but in our price range.  We've been happy so far.  We'll see how the hatch goes in 16 days.  

3)  Take care of what you have-  I'm bad to not do this, but am trying to do better.  It's easier to do the maintenance on what you already own, then to have to replace it; especially now when prices are rising and items are hard to find in stock.  We have a 1998 Chevy S10 truck.  We paid $3000 cash for it 6 years ago.  Unfortunately about a year later it over heated, locking up the engine.  We were told it wasn't worth repairing.  We found someone to rebuild the engine because we couldn't afford another truck.  That repair cost us another $1800.  5 years later that truck has more than paid for itself.  It's hauled all manner of things and taken DH to work 5 days a week.  Recently it started running rough.  We took it in.  We had to make a decision to pay $1400 for a tune up, new distributer cap, new fuel injector, and intake gaskets.  Again, it was cheaper than buying another truck.  The cheapest truck we've found was for $1500 with no transmission or engine so......  This truck is paid for, insurance for 6 months is about $200.   

4) Stretch what you do have!  The conversation my mother and I were having that led to the discussion about the inflationary times of the 70's was about things she used to cook that we loved.  One of those things was meat patties made with onion and bread.  I loved those!  I preferred them to just regular ground beef and gravy.  Well come to find out she used the bread and onion as filler because ground beef prices jumped so high.  This is a great use for stale bread, FYI.  

5) Salvage-  This is along the same lines as stretching, in that it means you are getting all you can from an item.  Have a useless shirt that's no good anymore?  Remove the buttons and cut out any usable fabric before you throw it away.  I've taken ripped and faded t shirts and cut them into strips to use for tying up tomatoes, plus crocheted some for hot pads!  A pair of jeans beyond repair can still provide sturdy denim fabric for another project ( a pair of men's jeans cut down to make a pair of pants for a small child?), and a zipper too!  It doesn't have to be fabric items.  The idea is to get all you can from any item before throwing it away.  After my dad passed, we were going thru the basement/ his workshop and found a box, kid you not, labeled " barely too good to throw away.  In it were odds and ends of screws, nuts, bolts, etc that he had held onto in case he could use it again.  My Dad was a child in the early 1940's during the end of the depression, the start of WWII and the war rationing that went with it.  Plus his mom lived thru the depression in it's entirety.  They both held onto stuff " in case".  

6) Learn a Skill-  Bread making, cooking from scratch, canning, sewing, basic car repair, basic small engine repair, cutting hair, and gardening.  These are just a small list of skills that will serve you well now and in the future.  Some are harder than others, but all are worth while.   They take more time to do yourself, but the money you save from this is money earned, AND it isn't taxed ( at least not yet, give them time).

7)  Bartering!  A lot of people don't think about this anymore, but really it should be a big part of society regardless of the situation.  It's just smart, and tax free!  It also fosters good neighbors, and friendships.  Every year, sometimes twice a year (fall and spring) I post on a neighborhood sight that I'm giving away my extra strawberry plants and blackberry plants.  I've met quite a few neighbors this way.  In the beginning it was just as a way to bless people with our extra, but since then I've received offers of other plants ( got a Gardenia and a Rosemary this way), a Bantam Rooster (Eli), and actually met a distant cousin!  Our next door neighbor has brought over meat from his smoker (SOOOO GOOD!) and I've taken them bread from the oven.  We don't all possess the same skills, or time for that matter, but if we work together, combining our skills, time, and supplies, we both win.  Now before you think this is some kind of socialistic utopia, think again.  This is a friendly transaction where both sides contribute.  It's just between the two parties concerned and not mandated by the powers that be.  It's called being neighborly!

So what things do you do to save?  I'm always wanting to find new ways to pinch a penny.  Have you tried any of these things?  If so, How'd it go?  

Updates on the homestead...the good, bad, and ugly

Things are clicking right along on the homestead.  We've had some successes and failures.  I thought I would bring everyone up to date.

First of all, to all concerned, hubby's surgery went well.  He was in the hospital about 4 days.  Today marks 3 weeks since his surgery.  He hasn't recovered fully yet, but there are times when, if I didn't know better, I would think he hadn't had surgery.  He plans to return to work sometime next week.  He has to get a Dr's release first.  His post op appt is in another 3 weeks.  Until then his return will be with conditions I expect.

One of our failures has been supporting these hens as they brood on eggs.  I understand they need to try and fail a time or two before they get it right, but we have sacrificed 5 dozen eggs to achieve 2 chicks.  That's right, 2 chicks; one hen and one rooster.  Giving credit where credit is due, the hen that hatched those eggs, while lousy at hatch rate, has been a good mama to the two.  We have another hen sitting on five eggs, so we'll see how she does.  They should hatch in about a week.  She seems calmer.  Here's hoping.  The bantam hens managed to hatch out 2 chicks as well.  One died immediately we think (we hope).  The other one seemed fine.  The sad story about the healthy one is it also didn't make it.  My husband went out to see to the chickens,(This should be an easy task.) and saw the hens attacking that one little chick.  Without thinking he started to run to rescue the chick,  His nerves aren't ready for running and they just locked up and he fell.  He still managed to get to the chick and rescue it, but it didn't survive.  We had it in a brooder for two days giving it food and water, keeping it warm, treating the wounds, but it was just too frail and passed in it's sleep.  We removed the rest of the eggs from the nest.  None of those hatched.  We think one of two things happened.  We think the non brooding hen pecked the chick and drew blood and either the mother hens were trying to save it and did more harm than good, or the sight of blood caused a frenzy.  Chickens will peck an injured bird to death.  FYI.  So we have gone back to using an incubator.  We did, however, order a well reviewed, well made incubator.   When it comes on Wednesday, we'll have eggs ready and try one last time.  

Here it is, if interested

Now on to more positive things!  

The garden is starting to fill in, and produce!  Not a whole lot at the moment, but I'm harvesting Snow peas, Spinach, Turnips (few), Strawberries, Asparagus, and Kale.  The Kale is doing really well.  I have some green kale I'm letting go to seed to harvest the seeds for planting.  I'm harvesting all kinds of herbs; Mint, Cilantro, Chives, Rosemary, and Parsley.  My dehydrator is coming in very handy.  In fact I do believe I will have it running 24/7 for a bit.  So far today I've dehydrated Kale, Parsley, Cilantro, Spinach, and Mint.   I love my little dehydrator.  

Here it is, if interested

Back in Feb, we paid someone to grade and clear  the yard along the side of the driveway.  I didn't realize how much planting space that would give me!  I have my tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, and squashes there, and still have room to plant more.  Just need to get to it.  Right now my main garden has the Broccoli, cabbages, some tomatoes, herbs, beets, snow peas, garlic, spinach, kale, corn, strawberries, and beans.  I also have some volunteer butternut squash and Pumpkin growing.  

After the grading and before planting.

Now it's planted, but not all the way.  I still have room.  Closer to the camera, but too small to see are my watermelon plants and raspberry bushes( out of frame).  Past the tomato plants are squash and peppers, but they are still small.  I have more room further back.  Not sure what to plant there.

With food prices going up, and continuing to do so, I'm planting every thing I can.  In fact, the other day, while pouring out some pinto beans to use for dinner, I spilled some.  As I swept them up I thought "I wonder if these will sprout".  So I put them in a jar, covered them with water, and let them sit a few hours til they were swollen.  Then I poured off the water, leaving them in the jar.  I covered the jar with cheese cloth ( a paper towel will work too), and watched them over the course of a few days.  After a bit I saw the little sprout emerge and I took them out and planted them with my corn.  Pinto beans are a runner or vining bean.  They need something to climb on.  The corn is tall enough where they can support the beans as they grow.  I planted 36 seeds.  They are starting to emerge.  So now I have spilled the beans about the benefits of spilling the beans!  lol.  

Resisting the urge to just open the coop and say " be free you're free range now" after the whole chick attack, I have a revamped run for the Bantam chickens in the works, and am happy to say I only purchased the PVC joints to make it.  The rest of the PVC was taken from an old run that was broken.  

I have to include this though.  It seems our Bantam rooster has a thing with the full size hen we have staying with them.  Love conquers all!

We also have a new coop/run we're about to build once the rain stops.  This is along the lines of a hoop coop that's all the rage among homesteaders; only this one isn't made with cattle panels.  Instead it will be made with PVC and Wood.  I'll write about that one when the time comes.  I have some different design ideas so that this can work as a coop, green house, or protection for my blueberries when we have the surprise freeze.  If it works, I really will be patting myself on the back!  This coop/run will be for the chicks we hopefully can hatch in a few weeks.  

Stay tuned!

Okay, just count to 10- 9,8

 7,6,5,4,3,2,1....

Okay.  Sooooo in it's infinite ( HA!) wisdom, the CDC (now politically motivated by whoever is in office) has come out to say that fully vaccinated people DON'T have to wear a mask outdoors.  Thanks Captain obvious! NO ONE NEEDS TO WEAR MASKS OUTDOORS!

First of all, having to take precautions when you have been vaccinated defeats the whole concept of vaccinations.  Doesn't it?  Remember the days gone by ( queue nostalgic music playing) when people went about their day living with the presence of nasty bugs around BECAUSE they had been vaccinated?  The irony is there are a lot of other bugs out there unbeknownst to them that have no vaccination available and yet people lived their life.  Do you know why we were able to function?  There is this wonderful little system we have in our complex body called an immune system.  Thank you Lord!  Many of us have come in contact with a germ or virus and our body was able to fight it off.  We may have gotten sick, but we got well and our immune system made a note of the virus and what to do if it got in again.  TOO COOL!  I'm all for that, but not too keen on Vaccines, personally.  Don't get me wrong, there are some vaccines I can see being necessary: Polio for one, but not all vaccines are necessary in my book.  The concept of a Vaccine is to give your body a "Heads up" with a weakened version of the virus through a shot instead of acquiring the virus naturally.  The thought being the virus is too dangerous to acquire naturally so a vaccine is the way to go.  The immune system beats it back, makes note, and is ready the next time.  So if that's the way you want to go, you do you.  Though personally I'd stay away from the MRNA vaccines.  See "the beginning of every zombie movie ever".

Also according to the CDC ( before they had to walk it back after a pow wow I expect), vaccinated people have a 95% chance of NOT getting sick from Covid OR spreading the virus.  Soooo yeah. 

NEWS FLASH!  Outdoors has never been the issue.  The CDC said long ago that masks aren't necessary outdoors.  Oh wait!  The initial reaction over a year ago was masks don't work at all and it's just to make people comfortable.  Thank you Dr Fauci for at least speaking truth in the beginning.  It was the last truthful thing you said, but hey, at least you started off well.  Don't get me started on his ridicules statement that even kids need to wear masks OUTDOORS! Ugh. 

MASKS ARE TO COVID WHAT A SCHOOL DESK IN THE 60'S WAS TO A NUCLEAR BOMB! 

Here are some rudimentary lessons on masks in general.  Our bodies were created to inhale O2 and exhale CO2.  CO2  is a WASTE product from our body.  Our body can't use it and DOESN'T WANT IT!  So we exhale it.  When you cover your mouth and nose, the two ways O2 can enter your body, you limit the flow of O2 into your body.  Oh I'm sure your lungs can work harder and pull it in, but it really would rather not.  Then when your lungs exhale the CO2, there isn't a force on the outside pulling it back thru the mask, and away from your next inhale.  So when you inhale again, you are inhaling the CO2 still stuck in your mask, along with whatever O2 your lungs can force thru the material of the mask.  You are inhaling your body waste over and over again.  Oh, and by the way, if you can smell something outside your mask, then your mask isn't doing it's job.  Ask yourself if this is worth it for a virus with a 99% chance of survival.

In addition, water vapor and warmth from your breath are what is plentiful in and on masks. Combine those two things: warmth and moisture, and you provide a perfect environment for bacteria and viruses to grow.  So when you are forcing what O2 you can thru the fibers of your mask, you're also sucking in any viruses or bacteria that have taken up residence there as well!  How special!  

Cross contamination is when germs are moved from one area to another.  More specifically, germs are moved from a contaminated area to a sterile/vulnerable area.   For instance when you adjust the mask you're wearing and then inadvertently touch your eyes, nose or mouth ( hmm like when pulling your mask down to eat).  When you keep your mask in your pocketbook, glove box, or floor of your car; then put it on and breathe deeply.  My favorite stupid commercial of all time right now is the one that has a mask on a lanyard around the neck.  So your mask sits on your chest accumulating germs inside and out and THEN you put it up?  Right.  Okay.

I don't mean to get on a tangent.  It just comes naturally in the presence of insanity.  The insanity of any differing opinion being silenced.  The insanity of claiming to follow science when all the things you're recommending doesn't follow science.  The insanity of allowing the media and our fearless leaders to tell you what to believe and how to live.  THINK!  READ!  CHECK THINGS OUT!  Don't blindly accept things, especially if they are coming out of the mouth of any politician, news agency, social media, or celebrity.

1.  If you're vaccinated, you should be good to go mask less, and do whatever you used to before all this craziness.  That being said, before you get vaccinated, ask yourself if it's worth vaccinating for a virus with a 99% survivability rate.

2.  If you choose to wear a mask:  Make sure the mask covers your nose and mouth at all times.  Wash your mask after every use (every use) and dry in a hot dryer.  Make sure the mask is 4 layers of 100% cotton.  If you're comfortable, breathing; it isn't protecting you.  The mask does not belong under your chin, around your neck, or holding your hair back in place of your sun glasses!  Wash your hands before applying the mask to your face.  DO NOT TOUCH YOUR MASK!  If you must touch it, wash your hands every time you do ( every time).  Remove your mask starting with the ears and pull it forward away from your face.  Immediately put it in the wash.  Immediately wash your hands.  Reapply another mask to wear when you're home around anyone else, because they're out in this too; getting supplies, or as an essential worker, etc.  Never be around anyone without a mask: whether at home or not.  It's the only way this insane concept has a chance over someone choosing to not wear a mask.  If you can't follow these steps, see point 3.  Note:  Viruses can't be contained, so, even with all this, plan accordingly.

3.  If you choose to not wear a mask, keep your distance from others when out.  Aside from that, breath deeply, enjoy your freedom, spend plenty of time in the sun, and eat well.  Note:  Viruses can't be contained, so stay healthy and strong to keep your immune system strong in order to fight if and when the time comes.  Good news is, while you may still get Covid or something else, chances are at least your life will be way better up to and after. 

As a general rule; wash your hands often, especially before you eat or drink.  Don't go out anywhere if you feel bad.  That should go without saying.  Keep your distance out in public especially if you see someone showing symptoms of any illness.  If your children are sick, they're still contagious even if you gave them something to bring their fever down, something to settle an upset stomach, or something that stopped diarrhea.  Medications control symptoms, they do not cure.

Good rule of thumb from my past experiences both as a daycare provider and a health care worker: 

24 hours with no fever, vomiting, diarrhea OR MEDS to control the aforementioned symptoms before being around other folks.  

Okay.  I'm calmer now.  In the words of the late Herman Cain "I'm not maaaad!  I'm just passionate!"

Happy Homecoming

 

Hello everyone!  

Remember the medical issues I spoke of?  Well we had one of them, hopefully, resolved this week.  

DH was diagnosed 15 years ago with spinal stenosis.  That's where ones spinal column narrows over time due to thickening of the bone within the column.  It can narrow and narrow until it presses on the nerves.  This causes numbness, tingling, and/or pain to the legs.  If untreated, it can put the patient in a wheelchair.  15 years ago, physical therapy worked and hubby went on his way.  He would have an occasional flare up, but he'd do his exercises, yoga, or simple stretches and he'd be good.  Then about 4 months ago he had a flare up that wouldn't go away despite his best efforts.  He went back to the Dr.  Physical therapy was tried again, but this time to no avail.  Surgery was really the only option.  Cortisone shots would've just been delaying the inevitable, and only for a few weeks.  So this past Monday, on my Birthday no less, Dh had his surgery.  Since then, he's been in the hospital recovering enough to come home.  He was finally able to come home today.  In fact we've been home about an hour.  

DR VISIT- $

PHYSICAL THERAPY- $$

2ND DR VISIT- $

SURGEON VISIT-$

SURGERY- $$$

HOSPITAL STAY- $$$$$$$$$$$

HUBBY BEING PAIN FREE-  PRICELESS!

It's going to take him about 4-6 weeks to recover full function.  3-6 months for full recovery.  Not sure, during that time, when he will be able to return to work.  So watching my P's and Q's when it comes to money.  We have enough, I believe, in savings for living expenses and medical bills.  We have a HSA, but it has been depleted from other medical expenses.  We have enough, in the HSA, to cover some of the medical bills.  So while we have it to cover these things, it's still going to make things snug here.  

We know approximately how much our part of this will be and have set that amount aside to pay bills as they come.  With that amount set aside in savings, I can transfer as needed to cover other expenses as they come.  I will only take out of savings what is absolutely necessary.  So its going to be a snug year.  Even once the medical bills are paid off, we have a Health Savings account to catch up.  

This was an unforeseen expense.  I am beyond grateful that we had an emergency fund to cover living expenses and medical bills.  It took a lot of the stress out of an already stressful situation.  

With a little planning, emergency funds can be started with the smallest amount of money.  Just add to it over time.  It's better to start it now when there isn't an emergency.  If you're someone who makes say $30,000 a year or more, shoot for $1000 as a goal (to start).  If you make less than $30,000, shoot for $500.  DON'T TOUCH IT!  A family vacation isn't an emergency; neither is Christmas, school clothes, date night, a new TV, etc.  These should all be budgeted categories. You could say a car repair is an emergency.  I can see that, but really, if possible, car maintenance should be a budgeted category aside from savings.  A true emergency is more like a job lay off, medical emergency, major home repair ( like to pay your deductible when a tree falls on your house).  I say all of this because we can( and I have) justified taking money from our emergency fund for things that just weren't emergencies to begin with.  

If you have the ability to put money into an actual Health Savings Account, do so.  We've loved ours.  If you don't have insurance, or a Health Savings account, pay yourself an insurance premium and make that your "policy".  Many doctors offices, and even hospitals, will give a discount if you don't have insurance.  Just ask ahead of time. If you pay yourself that "premium" by putting it into a savings account, you have a fall back in case of a medical emergency.  Any little bit helps.  

Yes, funds will be tight here, but we'll be okay.  I may need to get a little more frugal or creative than previously, but we'll make it.  I'm grateful to have that cushion to see us thru.  

Well she did it! Kinda

 Our crazed Mama hen has finally managed to hatch out 2 chicks that lived, and from what I understand, three that didn't.  We have removed the rest of the eggs and began the process of incubating them.  I think to is about all she can handle right now.  We're still waiting to see who else, if any, hatch.  I've heard that the instinct to brood (sit on eggs) has been bred out of chicks bought at the store, and that the hens have to try and fail a few times before they finally get it.  I'm not sure how true that is, but there was definitely a learning curve with this one. First off she couldn't figure out which box to lay in, and, we think, she probably took breaks more than she should have.  She seems to be caring for these two.  I had to clean out the nesting box( gross) and put in fresh bedding.  I also dipped the chicks beak in the water just in case she hasn't shown them how to drink.  She gave it a valiant effort.    

On the other hand, we have two broody mama's in the Bantum coop.  Bantums brood very easily, and these were hatched the old fashioned way and not bought from a store.  Big Mama is our normal Broody Mama, but it looks like one of her daughters has joined her.  We don't need any more bantum chicks.  We have 5 right now; 4 hens and a rooster.  Chicks mean more hens and roosters.  Bantum roosters are really too small for the freezer, so we would need to find them homes.  So we have been taking the bantum eggs out from under her and replacing them with full size chicken eggs.  Only 6 full size eggs between the two of them.  Bantum hens don't care. They will sit on eggs, any eggs, and they will mother whoever hatches, even when they are her same size!  This is Big Mama with her babies from last year.  She hatched out 4 full size chicks and 2 bantum chicks.  Those black ones are full size.  

This is Taz.  This is the Bantum chick we hatched in an incubator last year after big mama left the nest.  We actually hatched out this one and a full size black chick named Gonzo.  We named them Taz and Gonzo because we thought they were both roosters.  Oops.  Turns out they were both hens.  Turns out they were best buds too.  

In other homestead news, it looks like we will be getting cattle panels after all.  Only this time, I'm pressed for time to get it in, and really don't have a good time to do it.  Looks like we have a 39 degree temp in our future.  39 won't kill my tomatoes, but it will lessen pollen production and kill any fruit on them.  Yes, my tomatoes are flowering and have fruit in some cases.  I've tried to cover them, but it's hard to keep them covered if it gets windy.  An actual wind tunnel can fix that and operate as a temporary green house in a pinch.  The problem I'm running into is the size of our truck.  It can carry maybe 2.  I need at least 6-8.  This means multiple trips to the store, or hope someone can deliver it all, sooner rather than later.  It's an investment, but something I hope pays off long term.  My hope is extending the growing season on both ends by being able to use this as a makeshift unheated greenhouse.  My main goal, though, is to cut down on tomato losses from blight.  

On a cautionary high note, I actually have a little corn and yellow wax beans coming in.  I just threw some seeds into the ground to see if they would be viable.  These were either seeds I've saved or older seeds.  So far, those are the ones breaking thru.  I still have 8 beds to do something with!  I also have some tomato volunteers.  Not sure if they are Roma or Cherry, so can't decide weather to keep them or not.  They're little, not flowering or anything.  If I do keep them, I'll move them to a new area.  

So how's your garden coming along?  Any experiments being tried? Anyone have experience using the cattle panels this way?  I would love the feed back.  

Milk...It does a Broccoli Good!

 Well Whoooo knew!  I do now.  

We've had a lot of rain lately.  I mean a lot.  Like "I think I see Noah's ark floating down my street" type rain.  That ended a week or so ago with winters last gasp.  Due to winter's heavy breathing and my need to plant 10 tomato plants early, the night time low of 30-32 was a problem.  I spent three days in wet, covering my tomato plants to hopefully protect them.  I can say I was about 50% successful.  5 out of 10 ain't bad.   Doesn't it look so cozy?  I used these lighted boxes my dad made years ago for seed starting.  I have used these things for seeds, plants, a brooder, and soon to be an incubator.  Talk about versatile!  It's a simple wooden box with light bulbs on a dimmer switch on either end.  The bottom is metal that warms up for use in seed starting, but with 100 watt bulbs, these boxes generated enough heat to protect my plants.

The focus on tomato plants, took my focus off the cabbages and broccoli.  As I was removing the tomato coverings, I noticed all of my cabbage family plants were looking less than stellar.   That seemed weird to me.  I never thought they would have a problem.  They're cold weather crops.  They should have been fine!  Upon closer inspection, I noticed white spots on the leaves.  I looked up the problem and it seems in cold damp weather, cabbage plants are susceptible to White Spot.  It's a fungus, and if left untreated, will kill the plant.  Throwing my desire to a totally organic garden out the window, I hurried to order a fungicide to fight this before It wiped out all my cabbage plants.  My order won't be here til the 15th of April, so I continued to research something to fight it now and at least give them a chance until the fungicide arrived.  

Enter...Milk.

Yes...Milk.

Apparently diluted milk has a protein which, combined with sunlight, makes an inhospitable environment for this fungus.  FYI, this also works on Squash plants with Powdery Mildew.  I sprayed my plants for a couple of days, and they perked right up!  

The after:

The spots have started to disappear.  There was a break from spraying since the weather was still sunny and dry.  They seemed to  be recovering well.  It rained yesterday.  With the sun's arrival today I was out reapplying the diluted milk.  

While getting some pics, I had to include my prettiest Apple tree (shh!  Don't let the other trees know).  This poor tree has been pulled out of the ground and replanted twice; once from hurricane Irma, and once from Kudzu!  But look at it!  It has come thru with flying colors!  Beauty despite adversity.  There's a lesson in there somewhere!

An Interesting Turn of Events!

 Good morning all!  I know I'm late in posting.  Things have been crazy busy here with spring approaching.  I will pose of gardening, baby chicks, etc in a later post, but wanted to share something that happened JUST NOW; this morning, at this moment!  

About 3 months ago I determined I was tired of all the junk on Facebook and opted to leave.  This was the day after the January 6th hullabaloo at the capital.  I had shared a statement by Sarah Palin simply asking for the media to do the research to find out who the rioters were before assuming.  Not all those gathered at the capital were rioting, just like not all those gathered at the George Floyd protests were rioting.  I would hope, regardless of ideology, we could agree on that one.  Anyway, Facebook took it down saying it was false, even though at no point in the statement did Sarah Palin make any claims.  She simply called for objective journalism.  That was the straw that broke the camels back for me and I left.  

I have stayed relatively quite online since then.  I try not to wax too political on my blog.  That being said, The things going on in this country are getting serious.  

This morning I felt I needed to sign up again for Facebook in order to speak out on things.  My opinion and a dollar would get me a cup of coffee at Mcdonalds, but I still wanted to express it.  I told my husband I was going to sign up again and speak my mind.  I told him I may end up in Facebook jail, and people probably shouldn't accept or request friend requests to me if they are easily riled, but I was going to do it.  I filled in all of the info, using my old user name, and DOB, but the email and password were changed.  I hit "sign up" and am immediately reading a statement that says my account has been disabled because my content didn't meet community standards.  

FYI, I closed my account months ago.  They give you 30 days to change your mind, and up until that deadline I still had the ability to sign back up.  I know, I checked.  So one of two things happened:

1)  Google/Facebook over heard hubby's and my conversation just now and blocked me from getting on because of what I might post.  That's my conspiracy theory

2)  More than likely, and just as scary, My past account was part of a conservative purge, even though I had never been disabled or lost access to my page at any time in the 10 years I had been on facebook.  I had some videos taken down, but for the most part never dinged.  I was, however, very open about my conservative views.  I was always respectful of differing opinions, willing to talk things out rather than use cheap shots.  I think my views, coupled with a record of having some of my things taken down (mostly covid related fyi), made me part of the "Great Purge".  

I say all of this to say, please pay attention to what is going on around you right now.  Rights are being eroded in the name of  Political Correctness, Diversity, and "public health".  The latest one is Mr Biden's executive orders on gun control, because it's a "public health crisis".  He also stated "no amendment is absolute".  Really?  In order to have an amendment added to the constitution, 2/3rds of both the House and Senate have to vote on it.  It is not signed into law by the president.  In fact he has nothing to do with the amendment process.  Instead the amendment is sent to all 50 states and 3/4ths of the 50 states have to ratify it.  That is 38 of the 50 states.  That seems pretty absolute.  It would take another amendment process to overturn it.  Legally.  But are we living in a time where the constitution doesn't hold the same authority?  That's the dividing line.  

So, tell me.  Which Amendment do you think we don't Really need anymore?  I'll wait.